Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1952 [PAGE 1416]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

I952]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

1513

I recommend that these appropriations be made from the General Reserve Fund.

On motion of Mr. Johnston, these appropriations were made by the following vote: Aye, Mr. Fornof, Mr. Grange, Mr. Herrick, Mr. Hickman, Mrs. Holt, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Megran, Mr. Nickell, Mrs. Watkins; no, none; absent, Mr. Stevenson.

WATER RATES LITIGATION

(13) The Northern Illinois Water Corporation has appealed to the Circuit Court of Champaign County from the decisions of the Illinois Commerce Commission granting the Corporation approximately one-fourth of the rate increases it had requested. In accordance with the previous authorization by the Board of Trustees, the University will join with the cities of Urbana-Champaign in contesting this appeal with the understanding that the University will pay thirty per cent of the costs incurred, as heretofore.

On motion of Mr. Herrick, these payments were authorized.

PATENTABLE DISCOVERIES

(14) The University Patent Committee submits the following reports and recommendations relating to potentially patentable discoveries. 1. William J. Fry, Research Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, and his wife, Mrs. Ruth B. Fry, have recently developed an acoustic probe which has possibilities of usefulness as a general laboratory instrument for measuring sound intensities in an acoustic field and thus may have commercial value. The University Patent Committee recommends that the University of Illinois Foundation be requested to negotiate with appropriate instrument manufacturers for the patenting, development, and manufacture of this instrument. In the event the Foundation finds it would not be feasible to seek patent protection, the Committee recommends that all rights be released to the United States Air Force, since the acoustic probe is a direct result of research conducted under a contract with the Air Force. _ _ 2. William J. Fry, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Francis J. Fry, Research Associate in Electrical Engineering, have developed a variable resonant frequency transducer as a result of research work under a contract with the Department of the Navy. This transducer is intended primarily for use in underwater sound equipment. Since their disclosure is essentially an extension of an existing patent application by others, it could be considered only in terms of design patent possibilities. In view of this, the University Patent Committee questions the wisdom of spending funds on a patent application and recommends that all rights to this device which have been disclosed be released to the Navy. 3. Francis J. Fry has recently disclosed three inventions: an ultrasonic transducer, pressurized ultrasonic apparatus, and a three-coordinate positioning device developed as a result of research work under a contract with the Office of Naval Research. These devices, or modifications thereof, are of use primarily in highly specialized fields of biological and medical research and therefore are not likely to have any commercial value. Hence, the University Patent Committee recommends all rights to these inventions be released to the Navy. 4. G. E. Pickard, Professor in the Department of Agricultural Engineering, reports that John Orcutt, working under his supervision, has developed an improved fertilizer conditioner which may be patentable. It is effective in reducing caking which is a hindrance to satisfactory application of commercial fertilizers. In the opinion of the Head of the Department of Agronomy, a patent covering this conditioner would not provide sufficient protection for commercial development since other substances would give the same general effects as those ascribed to the conditioner reported by Professor Pickard. In view of this, the University Patent Committee believes that the University would not be justified in expending funds on securing a patent and recommends that all rights to this discovery be released to the discoverer. 5- Vernon J. Fowler, Research Assistant in Electrical Engineering, has reported an invention, transmission-line tubes, a new class of amplifying tubes for obtaining large amplifications of voltage and/or power over wide frequency bands